
From our fabulous News Hawks!
Have you seen a TG-related news story online or in your local paper? Send it in to TGF and become a News Hawk! Don't assume we know everything that's out there, because you are our eyes and ears. To file a story, send it in to Cindy .
Brandon Teena Documentary Premieres
Contributed by Jodie
NEW YORK (Variety) April 29, 1998
Five documentaries will make their U.S. premieres at the
first Docfest, which will run May 27-31 at the Directors Guild of America
Theater in Gotham. Sixteen films will screen during the fest, which is planned as an annual,
noncompetitive event to celebrate and promote documentaries.
"Each director has infused their work with a strong style and vision that will
both inform and entertain," said organizer Gary Pollard. "We're proud to offer
New York audiences the opportunity to sample such an eclectic and accomplished
range of work."
Films making their U.S. premiere are...Susan Muska and Greta Olafsdottir's "The Brandon Teena Story," about the 1993 murder of a young woman who was living as a man...
Docfest's opening night reception and screening tickets are $15. Each screening is $8. A festival pass is $60. For information call (212) 668-1575 or visit www.docfest.org.
Watch out Superman! Here Come the Men in Tights
London (Reuters)
April 28, 1998
Tights for men could be the new fashion statement of the Nineties. A British hosiery firm is launching a new range of hosiery for men who feel comfortable enough about their masculinity to stride around in clinging tights like Shakespearean heroes or Regency bucks. But women warn the tights could make the "New Man" wearers hot and sweaty for all the wrong reasons and men fear their sperm count could fall.
"We have had lots of calls at our head office in Austria and via the Internet expressing interest in men's tights," said the Wolford company spokeswoman Daniella Mayer. But she concedes that the firm may face an uphill battle convincing the notoriously reserved British man to drop his guard and take to tights. "I don't believe it is going to be the smash hit of the year 2000 and that all the men are going to wear tights," she conceded. "But perhaps guys will discover them, things change. Maybe it will become the cool thing to do, you never know." she added.
The deluxe new tights are to retail for 30 pounds ($50) a pair. They come in black or brown. They are a mix of cotton and velvet. Wolford believes the tights would be ideal for men who work outdoors on building sites or playing sports.
In the interests of sartorial research, the Evening Standard newspaper put reporter Tom Sykes in a pair for the day and even got him to pose coyly in his clinging new apparel. Sykes was not amused. "After a few hours, my legs were slicked with sweat, exacerbated by the fear of what my colleagues would make of me if they discovered what I was wearing underneath my trousers." he said. He also warned: "The male sperm count is in free fall and all men know how to ensure the survival of as much of their seed as possible: wear boxer shorts and allow the testes to swing freely in the cool, fresh air."
This is not the first time that hosiery firms have tried to get men to concentrate not on peeling off their partner's tights but putting on a pair themselves. In 1973, the distinctly macho figure of welterweight boxer John Stracey was chosen to launch a men's tights campaign. He posed for publicity shots in his tights beside a bare-breasted blonde model. That campaign floundered and on Tuesday The Daily Mail predicted this one could too. Fashion writer Lina Das offered male readers some blunt advice: "If there are some men who think tight-wearing might be a wheeze, here is my advice: there's only one place for ladders in your life, boys, and that's with you up them, not wearing them."
Transsexuals Can Challenge
Operation Funds Refusal
PA News
April 28, 1998
Three transsexuals have won permission to bring a High Court challenge against a health authority's refusal to fund sex change operations.
A judge gave them leave to make urgent applications for judicial review against North West Lancashire Health Authority after their counsel, Stephanie Harrison, said they were suffering "severe psychological distress". Miss Harrison said the health authority had been operating an inflexible and unlawful policy of denying treatment to transsexuals.
Mr. Gerard Clarke, for the health authority, opposed leave being granted. He argued the authority had acted within its powers and the courts should be slow to intervene in cases when clinical judgments were made about allocating "precious healthcare resources".
But Mr. Justice Keene ruled: "I am satisfied there are arguable cases here. "I propose to grant leave, principally on the policy argument and in terms of the alleged inflexibility of that policy." If the cases go ahead, they will be the first of their kind to come to court. Previous similar cases have settled out of court.
"Miss A", aged 21, "Miss D" and "Miss G", both aged 50, say they are females trapped in male bodies since birth who have already begun hormone treatment and now live their lives as women. What the three, who are legally aided and cannot be named for legal reasons, are seeking now is the final treatment and surgery which will allow them to live more fully as women. None can afford the treatment privately, which they say can be as high as 110 an hour.
Miss Harrison told the court they had been refused gender re-assignment surgery after the health authority adopted a policy of purchasing such operations only in cases of "overriding clinical need". The health authority ruled none of the three, who are all legally aided, came within that category. Miss Harrison told the judge: "All three are suffering severe psychological distress, having found themselves in a position of having already undertaken some form of treatment."
"Miss A" had actually undergone three operations before the health authority adopted its policy and all treatment ended. Miss Harrison added that, although the health authority said operations would be allowed if overriding clinical need could be shown, in practice it was operating an unlawful blanket policy. The policy was also contrary to the 1976 Sex Discrimination Act and the EU equal treatment directive. Miss Harrison said previous cases involving transsexuals had ended with health authorities agreeing to carry out treatment.
Man Seeks 40,000 Bras
There is a 1963 pink Cadillac parked in Studio City, Calif., it's back seat crammed with 1,000 used bras. On a front lawn, 7,000 more bras are woven into a mile-long chain and twisted around an industrial spool. Ron Nicolino, the artist who created the display on a residential street, says he plans to amass 40,000 bras by year's end to weave into a 10-story-tall "tapestry" to be presented to President Clinton as a plea for more breast cancer research funds. Nicolino has exhausted used clothing stores and lately has turned to soliciting donations via radio stations across the United States.
Diet Book Says: "Eat What You Want!"
The idea of losing weight by eating ice cream and chocolates may sound bizarre, but Dr. Deanna Jepson, author of the new diet book "Eating Orgasmically and Still Lose Weight," will tell you otherwise. In Singapore recently to launch the book, her first, Jepson said her system advocates "eating when you want, what you want," and compensating for it later. "It's freedom from the dieting mind. It's not just a slimming book, it's a whole new way of looking at eating." She said her aim was to make people feel good about eating because only then would they be in touch with the body's natural rhythms.
|